Wurzel wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 6:27 pm
Lovely looking Blues and Silver-spots Neil, two pairs in cop is really good going, some might even say a little bit greedy
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
...
Cheers Wurzel. I was especially pleased given the limited time I had and the increasing cloud cover.
Sunday 27th to Thursday 30th August.
On Bank Holiday Monday we decided to visit RSPB Pagham Harbour as we had been before on one of our previous trips down here and we knew that there are good paths that Jane could easily manage. One of the unfortunate side effects of her stroke some years ago is that she gets tired quickly, apparently quite a common and long lasting side effect of strokes. All things considered she does very well to manage some of the walks that she does and particularly enjoys the more accessible RSPB reserves.
We arrived just around 09.45am and wandered down to the hide overlooking the Ferry Pool, noticing quite a few Small and Green-veined Whites plus a few Large Whites along the way. From the hide we could see a number of Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshanks and Shelducks plus other wader type birds that were too far away for me to ID.
We then carried on along the path alongside the salt marsh where we saw loads more Small and Green-veined Whites which were now joined by good numbers of Holly Blues. These were all quite active on what was a pleasantly warm albeit increasingly cloudy morning but I did spot one Holly Blue settle on a bramble leaf in front of us when one particularly dark grey patch of cloud came over. Jane carried on to a nearby bench whilst I kept my eye on the clouds waiting for a brighter patch to come over and after about 10 minutes was rewarded with the Holly Blue opening up to show itself to be a nice fresh looking male.
![Pagham Harbour 28.08.2023 0071 resize.JPG (366.08 KiB) Viewed 215465 times Holly Blue - Pagham Harbour 28.08.2023](./files/thumb_10101_08478146ce8e0f9a521899b3bdda0b8d)
- Holly Blue - Pagham Harbour 28.08.2023
![Pagham Harbour 28.08.2023 0361 resize.JPG (451.15 KiB) Viewed 215465 times Holly Blue - Pagham Harbour 28.08.2023](./files/thumb_10101_db71cad578cdcf8046a8b36dcb8ca5a8)
- Holly Blue - Pagham Harbour 28.08.2023
After spending the morning at Pagham Harbour, we headed back to our B&B where Jane said she would have a rest if I wanted to pop out somewhere else. I decided to drive round to Thorny Island on the off chance that I might find a Clouded Yellow there, this being one of the more reliable locations for these.
Well, I had been seeing signs up along the roads for the Bank Holiday Emsworth Show but hadn’t thought anything about it and realised my mistake when I turned into Thorny Road and hit a tailback of cars waiting to go into a car park for the show further down the road. I eventually made my way past this and managed to squeeze into the last remaining space in the small car park opposite the public footpath that leads out to the west side of Thorny Island. I then walked down to the gate in the fence for the barracks to find a sign saying that the buzzer was not working and a phone number for the gatehouse for access. I tried calling this number but the line was dead so I had no choice but to retrace my steps to my car.
On the way back I pondered what to do and where to go and in the end decided that, as I was already here and I didn’t want to get snarled up in the traffic again, I may as well check out the path down the east side of the island where I had never been before.
I walked down to the gate on the east side to find a similar sign saying the buzzer was out of order and the phone number for the gatehouse. This time I had more luck as the phone was answered and I was buzzed through with no problems. I then continued down to the southern end of the island where I lurked around for 30 minutes or so before heading back. Unfortunately I did not find any Clouded Yellows although there were once again plenty of Small and Green-veined Whites along with a smaller number of Large Whites.
There were also loads of Holly Blues along the hedgerows by the path although most of these stayed well out of reach.
![Thorny Island 28.08.2023 0091 resize.JPG (339 KiB) Viewed 215465 times Holly Blue - Thorny Island 28.08.2023](./files/thumb_10101_c57becab099dd865223a5c98b823e6b8)
- Holly Blue - Thorny Island 28.08.2023
Other butterflies seen were loads of Small Heath by the southern end along with Meadow Browns and half a dozen faded Common Blues and a nice Small Copper.
![Thorny Island 28.08.2023 0231 resize.JPG (372.99 KiB) Viewed 215465 times Small Copper - Thorny Island 28.08.2023](./files/thumb_10101_e71f1f3219d4c82898a37dba854e90a8)
- Small Copper - Thorny Island 28.08.2023
An interesting sight that I watched for a while as I walked down was a Spitfire flying around above Thorny Channel. At one point it was joined by a light commercial aircraft that flew alongside in close formation for a while. I guessed that there may have been passengers in the light aircraft that were taking photos of the Spitfire and later a bit of googling turned up that this was indeed the case.
![Thorny Island 28.08.2023 0031 resize.JPG (249.56 KiB) Viewed 215465 times Spitfire and chase plane - Thorny Island 28.08.2023](./files/thumb_10101_4ffe3e713b19d1403024745ff80b1c01)
- Spitfire and chase plane - Thorny Island 28.08.2023
Tuesday was Jane and Sarah’s shopping day when I went to Old Winchester Hill as described in the previous report.
On the Wednesday Jane wanted to pop into Emsworth and then we went to Bosham Quay for a little wander. Walking past the church in Bosham Quay, I checked out a large buddleia by the path which has nearly always turned up a Red Admiral or two and sure enough there were a couple on it.
I did notice that most of the flowers on the buddleias down this way are now over but some, like this one, had a few flowers spikes left.
![Bosham 30.08.2023 resize.JPG (424.8 KiB) Viewed 215465 times Red Admiral - Bosham Quay 30.08.2023](./files/thumb_10101_0e1985ec6bf283fe66ecb4d3f2532672)
- Red Admiral - Bosham Quay 30.08.2023
Red Admirals appeared in Small numbers on most days we were here although it seemed that the large numbers of earlier in the year had now mostly gone. It remains to be seen whether there will be a large emergence of their descendants later in the year.
I also put my portable moth trap out in the garden of our B&B a couple of times although it must be said that clear chilly nights and that big ‘blue’ moon didn’t help. I didn’t get anything special although I did have a few that I have yet to see in my garden back home such as Burnished Brass, Scorched Carpet and White-point.
![DSC_9652 resize.JPG (523.27 KiB) Viewed 215465 times Burnished Brass - Bosham 29.08.2023](./files/thumb_10101_47eafa555f4f9bf30daf004f1f995feb)
- Burnished Brass - Bosham 29.08.2023
![DSC_9660 resize.JPG (532.24 KiB) Viewed 215465 times Scorched Carpet - Bosham 29.08.2023](./files/thumb_10101_864d3412f4c4fa28c85fc93f76951466)
- Scorched Carpet - Bosham 29.08.2023
![DSC_9632 resize.JPG (577.14 KiB) Viewed 215465 times White-point - Bosham 29.08.2023](./files/thumb_10101_de34957b9c1866d85b9a000b50203eed)
- White-point - Bosham 29.08.2023
There is no real reason why I shouldn’t get these at home, even the White-point, a previously scarce migrant is now turning up in Warwickshire in increasing numbers.
In the end we had a good few days and despite our misgivings with the weather forecasts we had some decent weather. The only rain we saw was on Tuesday evening into the night and then again when we left for home on Thursday morning. From a butterfly perspective, I saw my main targets of Silver-spotted Skipper, Chalk Hill Blue and second brood Adonis Blue although in the end I didn’t find a Clouded Yellow…maybe next time.
Bye for now,
Neil.